Time is a flyin'

Live tourneys:
I skipped EPT Budapest because I really didn't feel like dealing with the travelling. Since I have a ton of travelling coming up in a couple months so I want to cherish my time in Berlin for now. I'll be playing the Deutsche Meisterschaften in Hamburg on November 13th. The fact that it's a crapshoot definitely increases my chances of winning :) It's certainly not a real German championship like they make it out to be, as it is pretty much exclusive to northern Germany.

Rake race:
Several people have asked me if I plan on going for the win in the next BossMedia rake race coming up on November 10th. It's only one week this time with the winner getting €12k. There are a couple reasons why I won't be playing it:
a) the money is less this time for the same amount of work
b) the Deutsche Meisterschaften are right in the middle of it
c) I like my life and I'd rather not sacrifice another week of freedom sitting here in front of my computer

Weight loss prop betting:
I've found a new victim. Ramin "raminator" Henke thinks he can drop from 89kg to 80kg by the start of the Aussie Millions. The bet is for €4k and 10% of the Aussie Millions. Anything between 80-81kg is a chop, I win at anything above 81.01kg. The chances of him winning are slim, his laziness will get the best of him for sure.

Online poker:
I didn't play much at all in October, but I can still be satisfied with the results. Some days all the networks are DEAD and some days there are more tables than anyone can handle, it's really a strange phenomenon. I've been spending my downtime watching tv shows and they are really consuming me.

Election:
And in closing, Obama ftw. They didn't send me my voting ballot so I guess I'm not voting this time around but I'll certainly be following it closely. Neither candidate will make a big difference for me taxwise, but Obama is clearly the better allround candidate all things considered imho. Germans are also following the race closely, click that link. It's worth it!

Made the big time

Cue it forward to 7:37 and watch closely for about 13 seconds. Finally I'm getting the TV time I deserve. I'm still undecided on which offer I'll take: Stars or Full Tilt.

Maldives

Vacation is now over and it's time to get back to business. The Maldives were awesome, the whole trip was very refreshing which is exactly what I was going for. Though the flight over there was 9 hours of hell. I've never seen smaller seats in an airplane, which says a lot considering I am a frequent flyer. I tried taking a sleeping pill but for some reason it was not very effective. After arriving in Male, we had a 45min water airplane ride to the island. Flying over all the islands is such a sick experience, you really realize that you are basically in the middle of the ocean.

My days consisted of great sleep, chilling on the beach. snorkeling and a daily massage. The massages were all fabulous (I highly recommend the Hawaiian massage) and after the first massage all the pains from the flight over had disappeared. The snorkeling was something I will never forget. The things you see right off the beach are sicker than in any aquarium around the world. All the colorful fish, jellyfish, sharks, etc. were simply amazing. I don't have any underwater pics, otherwise I could probably have 100 stunning photos. Here are some pics from the island:

view from the beach right outside the room

view from the balcony

a bat flew in and started eating the flowers on the tree

i almost shat my pants when i saw this right on the beach

gecko

view of a neighboring island

I'm still undecided on whether or not I'll play EPT Budapest next week, if I go it will really be a last minute decision. I'd kinda like to just hang around at home for a while, but on the other hand Budapest is going to have a very soft field. Maybe I'll just flip a coin.

Off and away

My well-deserved vacation starts tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited for it. I've toyed with the idea of not even bringing my laptop because I'm going to the Maldives to chill out and the internet connection probably won't be very good, but the nerd in me is probably gonna end up bringing it along anyway.

Since my return from London I've started to play a little bit more now that the post rake race stress is starting to wear off. I've been crushing pretty hard so that always make it even easier to sit in front of the computer. The rest of my time has been spent partying or mastering my Fifa 09 skills, which is a sick game btw. If anyone wants to play a money match let me know, I'm not that good yet!

When in London...

at the science museum, imax glasses are awesome

leyton orient game

sonja with runner runner ruthi

me and my favorite french canadian

eva!

a professional sportsbettor i know

this was kinda weird but hilarious nonetheless

everyone is on a different page in this one. the girl with the drink is especially funny

seb & freddy

why is messing with passed out people so much fun?

marilyn monroe

must have been my birthday

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. I had a great time in London! Now I'm back home until the 13th, so hopefully I can motivate myself to get some hands in.

gogogogogo

GL to Ramin who has 100k chips going into Day 3 with 32 players left. Take it down!

EPT London, Day 1 Uno

I wasn't thrilled to see both Shaun Deeb and Shane Schleger at my starting table but table draws are one thing that players have no influence on. I should have been busted in the 1st level after Shaun Deeb misplayed a set on the flop vs my royal flush draw where I 3bet looking to get it in on the flop but he just called. The turn paired the board (making him quads) and it went check-check. The river blanked, I checked, he shoved and I snapfolded, showing my hand so everyone could notice what an unlucky person I am. If he had stuck it in on the flop I would have been busto.

I built up back up when Shane raised from EP, a donkey called in MP, I called in LP with 77 and someone else called from the BB. The flop came down Th7d7h aka quads for yours truly. Shane contibet, the MP called and I overcalled. The turn was the Jh which wasn't my favorite card in the deck because it kills a lot of the action. Shane checked, MP bet tiny, I jammed and got snapped by TT. Unlucky for him, he didn't hit his 1-outer on the river (although I am due for it sooner or later) and I now had 20k chips.

After being moved to a new table, I made a bad read when I thought someone was steaming when he really wasn't which prompted me to 4bet shove JJ. He obv had KK (lol nonexistent live poker light 3bets). After that I was crippled and eventually made a resteal with 30mins left to play in the day with KQ against Sorel Mizzi's MP openraise which he correctly called with AT. Oh well, it happens, blabla.

Now at least I have time to see some of London and celebrate my birthday on Saturday. GL to Ramin who has 53k and Alex who has 16k going into Day 2. Dinner time, yum.